Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
Ever since ourBeats Pill reviewcame out , we ’ve been hit with one question over and over . And it ’s a ripe one , apply that it ’s been a snatch of a banner year for Bluetooth verbaliser . That interrogative : whether the Beats Pill is better than theBose SoundLink Max .
I was n’t crazy about that question at first . I ’ve had the Bose SoundLink Max for a while now , and the Beats Pill for about a week before it became uncommitted . Or to be more precise , I ’ve had two Beats Pills . That ’s important linguistic context in this grammatical case .
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
So with the table set , let ’s get into it . Beats Pill ? Or Bose SoundLink Max ?
Price
One grounds I was hesitant at first to put the Beats Pill up against the SoundLink Max was simply because of the Leontyne Price disparity . They ’re in altogether different ballparks . A exclusive Beats Pill cost $ 150 . A single Bose SoundLink Max count in at a whopping $ 400 .
That ’s pretty tough to reconcile . But we can attempt to do it a couple ways .
There ’s a $ 250 difference between a individual Beats Pill and the Bose SoundLink Max . That ’s kind of a no - brainer , if price is your main retainer .
And you’re able to get two Beats Pills and still come out ahead — or at least not so far in the hole — for around $ 380 or so after taxes . You ’ll drop less , is the point . Hold onto that thought for a second .
Size and sound quality
This is where things get a picayune subjective . And I recommend close your eyes if you ’re adjudicate switch back and forth between the two , because the bold sizing of the Bose SoundLink Max may well test to mold your thinking . It ’s a trivial more than twice the sizing of a fresh Beats Pill .
That enceinte size of it allows for more speakers — five in the SoundLink Max , versus the two speakers in the Beats Pill . That by all odds allows for a larger sound .
The two speakers are tune up a little other than , which should n’t surprise anyone . Both are respectable . And I would n’t kick either of them out of bed . But on their own , I ’d say the Bose SoundLink Max advance out . Not by a ton , but enough so that it ’s noticeable .
mark that neither Bose nor Beats gives particular about entire magnate output , but I keep the volume at about 50 % .
Two vs. one
The long and the shortstop of the fresh Beats Pill is this : One speaker is moderately darn good , peculiarly at that price . But partner off a second one , and it ’s that much better — and more pliable in how you listen .
I ’ve already compose about how if I were spend my own money midway through 2024 , I ’d opt for apair of Beats Pills rather of rigging up the same stereo Sonos systemI have on my back porch . ( It bears repeating that ’s not an apple - to - apples comparability because the Sonos Play:1 is so old , but it ’s what I ’ve got . )
A pair of Beats Pills can work in Amplify Mode — which is just two mono Speaker playing the same thing at the same time — or in Stereo Mode . It ’s the latter in which the Beats Pills shine , and absolutely move ahead of the audio you get out of the Bose SoundLink Max .
And at the endangerment of repeating myself , you get that for less than the cost of a single SoundLink Max .
Other considerations
Sound and price are the big concerns here . Everything else after that is gravy . But I ’d also consider :
Which one wins?
If I ’m spend my money — and I ’m assuming you ’re take care in the $ 300 - plus kitchen stove here — I ’d go ahead and get two Beats Pills . It ’s not that there ’s anything inherently wrong or bad with the Bose SoundLink Max . But given that it costs more than a pair of Beats Pills and lacks their tractability , it ’s the smarter purchase .
And for what it ’s worth , that flexibility also includes not using a pair of Beats Pills in tandem . There are time when grabbing one will do .
But for now , there ’s plainly no puzzle a twosome of Pills , at least when you ’re place them up against the SoundLink Max .
